2.1. DIAGNOSTIC ASSAYS
There is a strong economic need for rapid sensitive diagnostic technologies. Diagnostic technologies are important in a wide variety of economic markets including health care, research, agricultural, veterinary, and industrial marketplaces. An improvement in sensitivity, time required, ease of use, robustness, or cost can open entirely new diagnostic markets where previously no technology could meet the market need. Certain diagnostic technologies may possess high sensitivity but are too expensive to meet market needs. Other techniques may be cost effective but not robust enough for various markets. A novel diagnostic technique which is capable of combining these qualities is a significant advance and opportunity in the diagnostics business.
There are a number of different analytical techniques used in diagnostic applications. These techniques include radioactive labeling, enzyme linked immunoassays, chemical colorimetric assays, fluorescence labeling, chemiluminescent labeling, and electrochemiluminescent labeling. Each of these techniques has a unique combination of sensitivity levels, ease of use, robustness, speed and cost which define and limit their utility in different diagnostic markets. These differences are in part due to the physical constraints inherent to each technique. Radioactive labeling, for example, is inherently non-robust because the label itself decays and the disposal of the resulting radioactive waste results in economic, safety and environmental costs for many applications.
Many of the sensitive diagnostic techniques in use today are market-limited primarily because of the need for skilled technicians to perform the tests. Electrochemiluminescent procedures in use today, for example, require not only skilled technicians but repeated washing and preparatory steps. This increases both the costs and the need for waste disposal. Novel diagnostics which simplify the testing procedures as well as decrease the cost per test will be of great importance and utility in opening new markets as well as improving performance in existing markets.
2.2. ELECTROCHEMILUMINESCENCE ASSAYS
Electrochemiluminescence ("ECL") is the phenomena whereby an electrically excited species emits a photon (see, e.g., Leland and Powell, 1990 J. Electrochem. Soc. 137(10):3127-3131). Such species are termed ECL labels and are also referred to herein as TAGs. Commonly used ECL labels include: organometallic compounds where the metal is from, for example, the noble metals of group VIII, including Ru-containing and Os-containing organometallic compounds such as the Ru(2,2'-bipyridine).sup.3+ moiety (also referred to as "Rubpy"), disclosed, e.g., by Bard et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,808). The light generated by ECL labels can be used as a reporter signal in diagnostic procedures (Bard et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,605). For instance, an ECL label can be covalently coupled to a binding agent such as an antibody or nucleic acid probe. The ECL label/binding agent complex can be used to assay for a variety of substances (Bard et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,808). Fundamental to ECL-based detection systems is the need for an electrical potential to excite the ECL label to emit a photon. An electrical potential waveform is applied to an ECL assay solution across an electrode surface, typically a metal surface, and a counterelectrode (see e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,068,088, 5,093,268, 5,061,445, 5,238,808, 5,147,806, 5,247,243, 5,296,191, 5,310,687, 5,221,605).
Various apparatus well known to the art are available for conducting and detecting ECL reactions. For example, Zhang et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,457) discloses exemplary electrodes for use in electrochemical cells for conducting ECL. Levantis et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,268) discloses electrochemical cells for use in conducting ECL reactions. Kamin et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,806) discloses apparatus for conducting and detecting ECL reactions, including voltage control devices. Zoski et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,445) discloses apparatus for conducting and detecting ECL reactions, including electrical potential waveform diagrams for eliciting ECL reactions, digital to analog converters, control apparatus, detection apparatus and methods for detecting current generated by an ECL reaction at the working electrode to provide feedback information to the electronic control apparatus.
The ECL technique is reviewed in detail by, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,268. In brief, the ECL technique is a method of detecting in a volume of a sample an analyte of interest present in the sample in relatively small concentrations.
The ECL moiety, termed a TAG in the above referenced issued patents, may or may not be bound to an analyte, but in either case is promoted to an excited state as a result of a series of chemical reactions triggered by the electrical energy received from the working electrode. A molecule which promotes ECL of the TAG is advantageously provided, such as oxalate or, more preferably, tripropylamine (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,687).
2.3. COMMERCIAL ECL ASSAYS
To date, all commercial ECL reactions are carried out on centimeter scale electrode surfaces. The centimeter scale electrodes strike a balance between the enhanced magnitude of an ECL signal resulting from larger electrodes and the desirability of decreasing the total sample volume necessary for each assay. However, even centimeter scale electrodes fail to achieve the sensitivity required for many assays. In an attempt to overcome this problem, all commercial ECL systems further enhance sensitivity by using coated magnetic beads to capture ECL analytes or reagents. The beads are then moved adjacent to a working electrode for enhanced sensitivity.
However, the use of magnetic beads has many limitations. The beads themselves are coated with proteins which slough off and degrade over time, causing signal variations. Due to the complexity in handling and formatting bead-based assays, commercial ECL diagnostics require a complex, serially performed set of procedures for each assay conducted with a given sample that increases the time and cost for each test to be performed. The 5 micron scale of the beads prevents most of the bead-bound ECL TAG from reaching the thin film adjacent to the working electrodes, resulting in inefficiency in excitation of the ECL TAG.
Leventis et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,268) has proposed a method of assaying more than one different analyte simultaneously by the use of different ECL labels for each analyte, each emitting photons at different wavelengths for each different analyte in a single assay. However, this technique is limited, for example, by the unavailability of a sufficient number of effective ECL labels radiating at different wavelengths and the need to optimize the chemical conditions for each ECL label. These practical constraints have prevented the commercialization of such multi-wavelength, multi-analyte ECL detection systems.
Another approach to increased ECL sensitivity is to improve the electrode technology. Zhang et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,457) have directly deposited films of ECL species on various metal and semiconductor surfaces. The Zhang and Bard technique using bulk saturation of the electrode surface results (as described by the authors) in an uneven patchy deposition unsuitable for highly sensitive assays.
The previous methods for conducting an ECL assay also requires that the assay cell, including the electrodes, must be cleaned by any one of a number of methods, including the use of dilute acids, dilute bases, detergent solutions, and so forth as disclosed, for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,806.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel and cost effective assay for conducting a plurality of ECL reactions, either sequentially or simultaneously and in a preferred embodiment, providing built-in control standards for improved accuracy.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cassette comprising one or more supports suitable for conducting a plurality of simultaneous or sequential ECL reactions that is also disposable.
It is a further and related object of this invention to reduce the time and cost of conducting individual assays for analytes of interest in biological samples.
It is still a further and related object of this invention to provide methods and apparatus for conducting a plurality of simultaneous assays for a plurality of analytes of interest in a single biological sample.